A Few Beauty and Fashion Tips

Beauty Tips

1.  Once you wash your face, the window of opportunity for retaining as much moisture as possible is 2 minutes.  So apply your moisturizer withing that 2-minute time limit.

2.  Making lips look better:  Those nasty lip lines arrive at some point in all of our lives-earlier if we smoke.  Lip balm made with beeswax seals in moisture.  And, if you're a lipstick woman, it forms a barrier to prevent the color from bleeding.

3.  Would you like fuller lips, but don't want the brown lip-liner look? Tim Quinn, a makeup artist, recommends " applying lipstick with a brush. A dab of gloss in the center of the lower lip grabs the light, making fat pad appear  fuller. Finish by tracing a bit of concealer just below the lip line and at the cupid's bow."  He indicates that "the lighter color creates a 3-D effect and gives the illusion of puffier lips that are more pronounced."

Fashion Tips

1.  Lots of us think that, if we wear bigger garments, we'll appear thinner.  But celebrity stylist, Robert Verdi, observes "Everything should be body skimming.  Wear lightweight vertical pieces(think long cardigans, scarves, and necklaces) to build a body-lengthening look without the bulk."

2.  When we tuck in blouses or tees, we emphasize belly fat/exaggerate a somewhat plump posterior. Better?  "Wear a blouse with fitted seams over slim pants to give you the illusion of shape in your middle. Or pull a tailored tunic on over slim jeans for a flattering, streamlined  look."

3.  Wear 3/4 length sleeves or roll up your sleeves.  "Exposing the thinnest part of your arm (from your elbow to your wrist) not only says young and stylish but also gives the illusion of a slender shape," says Kim Johnson Gross in What to Wear for the Rest of Your Life.  She also recommends that a woman  turn up her collar.  "An upturned collar elongates your frame and de-emphasizes a double chin." (collar width-no more than 3 " and with some weight).

4.  Kristen Rawson, Style Director of Ann Taylor, recommends that we "lose the pleats.  Flat-front pants slim your tummy and lengthen your legs, so you seem taller and better proportioned."

Some of these we knew; some we didn't.  All are taken from the "Fresh Face"(8-9) and "Well Dressed"(16) sections of  The Two-Day Diet Reports, Rodale Press, March, 2013).